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Although there is plenty of criticism and heated debate about public pensions these days, these are the facts: Providing retirement security to millions of Californiaâs public workers is beneficial to our economy, fair to employees whoâve spent their career in public service, and affordable to taxpayers. Payments from the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) annually generate $26 billion in economic activity and support more than 93,600 jobs across the state. Nearly $1.3 billion of that economic effect and 4,500 of those jobs are right here in Riverside County.

That alone refutes the argument that pensions are a drag on the state budget, as is often claimed by public pension âreformers.â But hereâs more evidence that they arenât: The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst notes that public-pension costs, making up less than 3 percent of the state budget, are the stateâs slowest growing costs. (To put that in perspective, corporate tax cuts cost the state nearly five times as much as pension benefits did last year.)

Still, critics warn that low earnings over the last year for CalPERS, the stateâs largest public fund, put the fundâs stability at risk (âPension pipe-dream,â Our Views, Jan. 27). They claim that the fundâs earnings over the last 10 years are below the level needed to sustain it. That would be a true concern for an individual investor nearing retirement with the sort of insecure 401(k)-type defined contribution pension that public pension cutters want public workers to have. But pension funds like CalPERS donât invest for returns over one or even 10 years; they invest for the long haul. And over the past 20 years, CalPERS has earned an average annual investment return of 8.4 percent. Last year alone, despite a struggling economy, CalPERS replenished its pension system with billions of more dollars.

Thatâs not to say there arenât headline-grabbing abuses of the pension system that need fixing. And positive changes are taking place.

Public employees are ready to work with the governor and the Legislature to stop the abuses, such as spiking, that have made public pensions such a front-and-center issue for Californiaâs taxpayers.

We agree that top management employees should not be able to bloat their pensions with extra perks that rank-and-file employees donât receive. We agree that those who commit felonies related to their public employment should no longer accrue pension benefits from that employment.

Meanwhile, even the largest of public pensions is a pittance compared to the private sectorâs high end. Last year, for 200 of the United Statesâ top CEOs, average compensation was $11.6 million; average pension savings were $9.4 million and average stock holdings were half a billion dollars each. Many are the same CEOs who presided over the trashing of private sector pensions for middle-class Americans.

One in three Americans now say they donât expect to be able to retire until at least age 65. The Wall Street Journal projects that many private sector workers will run out of retirement money due to shortfalls in their 401(k) accounts. Yet there isnât the same zeal from reformers to go after absurd CEO compensation the same way they go after the modest pensions of public workers.

Instead of blaming teachers, firefighters, police officers, school employees and others who have devoted their careers to public service for our stateâs budget woes, we should be looking for ways to ensure that all of us have secure retirements after our working years are over.

Tim Burke is lead water distribution operator for the city of Hemet.

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